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China continues to ignore the United States as it militarizes its geographic zone, while continuing to treat Biden personnel as subjects to be lectured, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.
On “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham pointed out how Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to get nothing out of his communication with Chinese defense officials Thursday.
Reading between the lines, Ingraham said, it appeared Austin’s call was the latest example of China hectoring the Biden administration and ignoring its interests.
“I don’t think they respect or fear the United States under the leadership of President Biden,” Pompeo replied.
He added that Austin’s call appeared reminiscent of a disastrous summit in Alaska, where NSA Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were lectured by Chinese officials about Black Lives Matter and purported human rights abuses in the United States versus China.
CHINA HAS FULLY MILITARIZED PACIFIC ISLES, ADMIRAL SAYS
(AP/Getty Images)
“The American response was to kind of nod our heads and say, ‘Well, we’re not really that bad,'” he said.
“And it doesn’t look like we actually defended the things that matter most to the United States of America [in Austin’s call]. Our secretary of Defense should have done that.”
Pompeo pointed to a deal between China and the Solomon Islands, which are in a geopolitically important region of the South Pacific near Australia and New Zealand, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands — and not too comparatively far from Hawaii.
Lloyd Austin and Barack Obama (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
China already worked to militarize the Spratly Islands against the Obama administration’s wishes, and an agreement with the Solomons could mean they can “park” their missile systems and “foreclose” regional trade involving America or U.S. allies, he said.
“That’s why China is so focused on it. … The Biden administration has allowed China to walk all over them throughout the entire Pacific.”
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare defended the pact with China, saying it won’t “undermine the peace and harmony of our region” despite worries to the contrary.
